Giants Country

New York Giants Mailbag Lite

It's our first mailbag of the off-season and it's a light one.
Patricia Traina|
New York Giants Mailbag Lite
New York Giants Mailbag Lite

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New York Giants

If you'd like to submit a question for the mailbag, please send it to nygiantsmaven@gmail.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and conciseness. While we try to answer all questions received, we reserve to consolidate if several people ask the same question.

Disclaimer: I haven't gotten into draft prep--that's happening next week (I have, however, been working on free agency). That said, I think the Giants go for the best player available, and if that BPA just so happens to be a potential No. 1 receiver or a shutdown cornerback, I wouldn't be too upset with either move, if you catch my drift.

(From Dan O.) On the one hand, some of your recent guests talk about making cold, hard roster decisions based on player skill alone. On the other, other guests speak of the importance of intangibles like leadership qualities and good locker-room presence.

These two things sometimes seem to sit uneasily together. By no means would I advocate making roster decisions based on the latter, but surely there are circumstances where a player leaving the team will affect team cohesion and, ultimately, the ability to win games.

Would losing well-liked players like Saquon, Nick Gates, or Jihad Ward be something to worry about? What role does this kind of thing play in GM decisions about rosters generally?

That is a very interesting question, Dan--thank you for submitting that (and for the kind words about the podcast).

I gave it some thought, and I don't think losing some of the well-liked players would be something to worry about too much. Why? Because it opens up opportunities for some of the younger players who maybe want to take on a leadership role to do so. I remember how Eli Manning was always reluctant to step up fully as a leader until after Tiki Barber left. I also remember how Daniel Jones always felt like he couldn't be a full-fledged leader with Eli around.

Having these well-liked players sets an example to the other guys on how to lead so that when the time comes and the older guys move on, the younger guys step up. We've seen that this year with Julian Love, Dexter Lawrence, and Andrew Thomas, just to name a few. So no, I'm not overly concerned about guys moving on regarding the leadership aspect as I would be about losing their skill set.

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Patricia Traina
PATRICIA TRAINA

Patricia Traina has covered the New York Giants for 30+ seasons, and her work has appeared in multiple media outlets, including The Athletic, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and the Sports Illustrated media group. As a credentialed New York Giants press corps member, Patricia has also covered five Super Bowls (three featuring the Giants), the annual NFL draft, and the NFL Scouting Combine. She is the author of The Big 50: The Men and Moments that Made the New York Giants. In addition to her work with New York Giants On SI, Patricia hosts the Locked On Giants podcast. Patricia is also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football Writers Association of America.

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